Whilst there have been many successes in the campaigns for restitution of Aboriginal Australian artefacts, in some cases, there is less willingness to return pieces to their original owners.

From:
Sydney Morning Herald

UK council meets Aborigines over remains
May 16, 2009

Aboriginal leaders have met with British authorities to demand the return of a rare skull.

Brighton and Hove City Council previously ignored an agreement between the Australian and British governments and refused to return the skull because of its rarity.
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Continuing coverage of the fact that Brighton’s Booth Museum of Natural History have decided not to return an artefact that is made from human remains. The Australian government is now intervening in the issue, in the hope of finding a way of settling the issue.

From:
Canberra Times

British council reluctant to release Aboriginal skull
17/02/2009 10:39:00 AM

The Australian government has intervened in a bid to get an Aboriginal skull returned to Australia and avoid a potential diplomatic row.

Museum bosses in England want to keep the skull, which has been turned into a water carrier, because it is extremely rare.
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More coverage on the decision by Brighton’s Booth Museum of Natural History against returning an Aboriginal artefact that involves human remains. It is important to recall, that whilst the Human Tissue Act allows Museums to return artefacts involving human remains where they would otherwise not be allowed to, there is nothing in the act that says they have to return such pieces. On the other hand, in most cases, artefacts have eventually been returned, so any institution that is not doing so is making a concious decision to go against what has become the currently accepted practise.

From:
Sydney Morning Herald

UK museum wants to keep Aboriginal relic
February 11, 2009 – 2:29PM

A rare Aboriginal relic is expected to stay in an English museum despite fears it could spark an Australian backlash.

Brighton and Hove City Council plans to keep a water carrier made from a human skull that has been stored in a museum in Brighton, a coastal city south of London, since 1925.
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Despite promising news from a museum in Brighton about the return of some artefacts involving human remains, it now appears that there are certain exclusions.

From:
The Argus (Brighton)

Rare aboriginal relic to stay in Brighton
12:30pm Monday 9th February 2009
By Lawrence Marzouk, Local Government Correspondent

An extremely rare aboriginal relic is expected to stay in a Brighton museum despite fears it could spark an Australian backlash.

Brighton and Hove City Council plans to keep a water carrier made from a human skull that has been stored in the city since 1925.
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